


Water Wings

by haisai_andagii



Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-21
Updated: 2014-04-21
Packaged: 2018-01-20 05:21:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1498144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haisai_andagii/pseuds/haisai_andagii
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Baby Jaybird! learns to swim.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Water Wings

**Water-Wings**

Alfred nearly dropped the lemonade when Jason trundled onto the patio like a child playing dress-up in his father's clothes. The boy was a slight, wiry little thing - that, he knew. But in Master Grayson's old trunks, he stood rawboned, holding them high on his slight waist. Alfred sighed with worry and set aside the tray on the patio table. Perhaps he could convince Master Bruce to let the boy eat a few of those chillidogs he had been going-on about.

"Too big," Jason muttered tersely.

"No matter," Alfred said tenderly as his hand alighted Jason's shoulder. With a small smile, he lead back into the manor. "Luckily, I had the foresight to procure a pair during yesterday's excursion to the... _mall_." The last word dripped with unmitigated loathing.

Once they were in Jason's room, Alfred produced a pair of swim trunks from the chestnut armoire and laid them out on the bed. They were quite garish-looking: fire-engine red with violently blinding streaks of green and yellow. When he had seen them, Alfred could not think of a more appropriate outfit for a Robin in-training. Jason gave him an imploring look but he excused himself and retreated to the hall. After a few minutes of impulsive dusting and vase straightening, he rapped on the door.

Jason sat in the bay window, smoking and surveying the grounds with a pensive gaze. Alfred cleared his throat. The boy started but did not turn or scramble to hide his contraband. Sighing, he strode across the room and opened the windows.

"If you insist on giving yourself cancer, please do so without burning the drapes."

"Alfie," he began, voice raw.. "I...I can't... At most, my dad would bust open a hydrant for us to splash in..." He stifled himself, jamming a cigarette into his troubled mouth and inhaling until it was nothing but a filter.

"Well, that's the very point of today, young master," Alfred replied calmly as he dusted ash into a gloved hand. "Robins must learn to fly." Jason looked at him with eyes brimming with fear but he remained firm. He gingerly plucked the hanging cigarette butt from between Jason's trembling fingers and gestured to the door with a wide, dramatic sweep.

Bruce had been waiting for him, treading water as the boy was frog-hopped to the edge of the pool. It annoyed Jason to no end how graceful, how fearless he was - cutting through the crystalline waters like a raven-haired shark.

"Glad you could make it," Bruce interrupted his poetic brooding. "Get in."

Jason toes curled over the terra-cotta trim, feeling the water lap across his toes. And just as he had committed himself to plunge into a chlorine-scented death, as he stood with his chest held high and tight, Jason was shoved and tumbled in face first.

Alfred smiled as he watched the young man doggie-paddle his way to his mentor. Like a bird pushed from its mother's nest, he knew that instinct would take over.

Bruce laughed when Jason reached him and clung to him, shivering from cold and adrenaline.

"I knew I picked the right candidate for the job," he smiled as he adjusted his burden. Sputtering, the boy wiped water from his eyes.

"A R-Robin," Jason said through chattering teeth. "Must b-be brave."


End file.
